A First-of-Its-Kind Sanctuary to Protect a Precious Woodpecker

In order to save the Kaempfer’s woodpecker, the state of Tocantins purchased a portion of the Cerrado landscape, turning it into the very first sanctuary dedicated to the Brazil-endemic bird that is part of a growing network of protected lands.

“Our conservation efforts for the woodpecker and the first reserve have paved the way for all the protected areas we manage today and the biodiversity they support,” explains conservationist George Georgiadis. “For us, this bird is the living symbol of our work, and seeing it out in the forest is the ultimate reward.”

Despite its wine-hued head, its cream-colored body, and its wings striped in black and chestnut brown, the woodpecker evaded detection for some 80 years. Indeed, Kaempfer’s woodpecker (Celeus obrieni) was first described in the mid-1920s in Piauí, the state east of Tocantins, but only seen again in the early 2000s. Five years ago, the Araguaia Institute, a conservation NGO, purchased 90,018 hectares of the Cerrado which includes many ecosystems like rainforest, wetland, and savanna and is home to more than 390 species of birds and mammals – including jaguars, giant anteaters, giant otters, and tapirs – to turn it into a protected area. By acquiring this portion of land, meant to be bought by a neighboring soy farm, the Institute boosted the protection of Kaempfer’s woodpeckers against modern agriculture and wildfires.